“Startling” $500,000 hair weave verdict will stand

A jury award of $500,000 against a Dorchester hair salon over a botched hair weave will stand, the Appellate Division of the District Court has decided – even though the appellate judges found the size of the verdict “slightly startling.”

The case was filed by a Brockton woman who had sought a “sewn weave” from Kay’s Salon on Blue Hill Avenue. The process involves sewing non-growing hair with a needle through a customer’s own hair to thicken it.

Upon arriving, the plaintiff was told that the stylist she was scheduled to see was unavailable and that another stylist would do a “quick weave.”The latter process, for which the salon charged $120, makes use of glue to enhance the hair but requires that precautions be taken to prevent the glue from seeping into the scalp. However, the stylist failed to place a cap over the plaintiff’s head, which allegedly caused the hair and glue to come off together.

Eventually, the plaintiff’s hair had to be shaved so that pieces of stocking glued to her head could be removed. The hair has never grown back, and the plaintiff has had to spend thousands on wigs.

Lawyers for Kay’s argued that the verdict should be thrown out, claiming that notes taken by a nurse practitioner were not sufficient evidence. But the appellate division disagreed, saying that “[w]here a person meets with an occurrence such as the one here and suffers injury such as that observed here, it is not speculative to infer that the injury was caused by the [hair weave] accident.”

The appellate judges also rejected an argument that the jury shouldn’t have been told about an earlier default judgment made against Kay’s, noting that the jury only found out about the judgment because Kay’s lawyer “persisted” in a “misleading line of inquiry” when cross-examining the plaintiff.

The verdict caused a lien to be placed on the entire block of real estate where Kay’s Salon is located, including the adjoining Kay’s Oasis Nightclub, a landmark reggae music venue.

Subscribers to Lawyers Weekly can click here to read prior coverage of the case by clicking here.

13 comments

It is my opinion that the verdict is what it should be. This woman trusted the hair dresser to do her hair properly and the hair dresser was negligent. Sorry it cost them so much but I think the lesson has been learned a costly lesson but a lesson regardless. I hope they can all bounce back from this.

The award, I believe, is justified. Even though it must be traumatic to have a bald head when that was not your intention, the bigger issue is Black women who continuously subject themselves to bizarre rituals to achieve a European standard of beauty. It perplexes me that anyone in their right mind would allow someone to glue anything onto their head. If I were this woman I would rock my bald head and be proud of who I am. On another note, if you want movie star hair you’d better patronize a movie star hair salon, not Kay’s on Blue Hill Ave.

I believe if you wear hair weave instead of your own hair regardless of the length, your subject to the trials and tribulations and issues with hair weave. I would rather be bald and natural than to wear anything fake and hair glue??!?!?!? OH NO

I am so sorry to hear of this woman’s horrific experience. As Black women, I understand that sometimes we go thru so much drama with our hair, skin, body, etc. to fit into “someone” elses idea of beauty that it becomes a vicious and sad cycle! Remember, beauty is truly skin deep. Love yourself first and all will follow – eventuially. Let’s just keep it natural!

I’m still in shock ! Seein that I’m a hairdresser my self I’ll say a few things , as costoms we sit and don’t ask questions like what de hell is that ?,what is that 4? And why are you usein it in my head ? My next point iz why do owners keep enployin workers that can’t do the job ? ( you don’t need 2 be a hairstylist 2 know that you can’t stick weave glue 2 someones hair like that )i wouldn’t wish this on any other stylist ,that judge was very had on kay’s but if you did that 2 my hair I might kill ah bitch !

It is very upsetting to me to see the extreme that people go thru just to recieve money. As a Stylist we try our best to satify each individual client that puts their trust in us. I have no argument that this woman should have recieved an award for her tramautic situation but I
strongly believed that she was overpaid. women have to understand that hair weave is actually is an invention that is a treat to women. What would women without hair do if they couldnt recieve weave. There is no law to hair weave. Further more women should test ther own skin and hair to make sure they are even eligable for the service..The judge that rukled her this extreme award must not know anything about hair weave or any kind of artificial hair. This women did not need to spend thousands of dollars for wigs. Further more there is not answer as to how the weave was removed. Alot of women tend to think they could watch a stylist and go home and do these services them selves including the removal. This is a wake up call for all stylist. Make sure you have every client sign a release form for their service that way women arent getting services complaining and then suing you for everything you got. Keep your head up Ms. Kay

I would like to say that we as women want to have our hair looking great at all times.But the reality of the situation is that truly an educated consumer is always the best customer !!! Ive been to shops where I was not satisfied with the outcome of the services that I received and we all have. The point that I’m making is that you cannont have blind faith in anyone!! You owe it to yourself to do your homework and then unfortunate situations such as this would not occur.I happen to know Ms. Kay personally and have for many years. And I find her to be a woman of substance and integrity. But,at the same time,these things happen and there is a lesson to be learned from this for both sides.,The plaintiff and the defendant. For the plaintiff had you researched the weaving process in it’s totality, you would have known that what the stylist was doing was very wrong and you could have made her aware that you were not having it. And for the defendant, Once the original stylist wasn’t available, I feel like there should have been a system put into place to ensure that the plaintiff received what she actually came there for. which i believe that she wanted a sewn in weave. So I can’t understand for the life of me why she was ever offerred a bonded (glued) weave. And even more why she accepted it !!! You’re the customer and it’s supposed to be that you get what you came for or you go elswhere. And to be honest the latter would have saved everyone involved the trouble. Peace & Blessing to all parties involved.

Bottom line is THIS: you have LICENSED people working in YOUR salon who make a DUMB SREWUP like THAT.. expect consequences!! First the stylist she booked with wasnt there, then they glued the ladies head together.. lets NOt be so quick to cast stones because what if it were YOU or your MOM in the same predicament.. Some people are SO GREEDY and just want money..at any cost.. THAT was a MAJOR MISTAKE on the STYLISTS part.. why is the “customer” being ragged on?????

BTW.. they do enough WEAVES to know better than THAT! That woman paid her money and was done a DIS-SERVICE..and NOONE should have to walk around BALD or with patches of bald spots due to someone who is “licensed” negligence!